The Poetry of Lemaire

Who doesn’t want to be a Lemaire woman, flitting between life appointments in poetic collared smocks and little fringed scarves tied at the neck? Christophe Lemaire’s clothes, created with his partner in design and in life, Sarah-Linh Tran, sometimes seem to defy time or place: they propagate an aspirational sort of monastic romance with a rarified French-ness, they can match with the personality of a done-up eclectic art professor-turned-Nancy Meyers heroine in Paris, or a serious young waif studying the classics who is definitely not on Instagram. Dream girls, in other words. Case in point: Lemaire’s spring collection, which opened with a crisp white, breezy, aforementioned smock over culottes, and included high-waisted, full-legged trousers, architectural slit coats, soft trenchcoats, and monochromatic suits, a black one accented with white topstitching, and button-front calf-length dresses with an Amish-meets-Victorian vibe. Our favorite look, though, was #3, a white-blouse with rounded shoulders and a black stripe up the front, paired with high-waisted white trousers, black lace-up brogues, and a black scarf: minimal, easy, and easy to imagine in our closet.